Cold Calling: Shut the F!@# up and GO GET Success. Play to WIN!

From your point of view I can understand how it looks when I say 'Close the sale at all costs'. It makes you think of a self-interested rep only selling for commission with no regard or empathy for the client. I would think the same thing.

The thing is, is that if you've listened to their concerns, became their friend and have a genuine interest in helping them solve their problem, then you've earned the right to make a recommendation and close the sale. If you know that your product can really help the client then you're entitled to sell them on it absolutely even if they're on the fence. In fact, if you're not persistent enough then the client rationalizes that you didn't really care about their problems to begin with, or what you were selling was garbage. If you knew 100% that your product was the ideal fit then only thing to do which makes sense is to persist until they make the right decision by buying. It's the equivalent to pushing them out of the way of a speeding car. You care that much about them and know you have a great product.

Most of the time people just want to stay inside their comfort zones and take the path of least resistance by doing nothing. The status quo is your biggest competitor in this, so in order to win you must be persistent and creative. You're also the first person to push and the first to back off if they're certain they're not buying. It's not about being pushy; it's doing a service for the prospect by inspiring and leading them to making a great decision IF there is a genuine fit.

The most common mistake I've made in sales and seen from others is that they don't want to push the sale because we think we'll risk losing it. We want to take it slow and easy and let the prospect completely control how they buy. We don't want to risk putting them off by being seen as pushy or manipulative. This is a valid point if our prospect absolutely can't use or wants our product, but at the end of a meeting once you both know the product is a good fit then giving up here is completely inexcusable. You risk far more by being scared of losing the sale here and scheduling a callback than pushing for a firm decision on the first call. You never 'had' the prospect to begin with, in other words you have nothing to lose by taking the sale as far as you can you can only gain. Again, it depends if you coming from a 'Prevention orientation' where you see everything that can go wrong, or a 'Promotion orientation' where you can see all the upsides and positives. It's the difference in thinking between 'I'll risk the sale if I go too hard', and 'This person needs what I'm selling. Selling is a great decision. I'm going to inspire this person to buy even in the face of their objections. I'm going to win. Gun to the head, play to win no matter what.'

It's hard to describe subtleties in sales but I'm working on it.

For instance, you are 'pushing' but the prospect doesn't perceive you are being pushy or feeling pressure. Backing off until you sense they are about to say 'No.'

I still don't like the idea of a traditional rebuttal because it feels salesy and not consultative.

I wouldn't say that this epiphany discredits the earlier beliefs because they can and do exist simultaneously. Again, it's a subtlety, a paradox which sounds weird to explain. I've never wanted to write in simple truths because they are a lazy and inaccurate frame of viewing things.

When a infant sees a broken stick on the ground he only knows it's a stick
because someone told him so.

Eventually he picks up the stick and knocks some stuff around, draws in the dirt
or maybe he throws it ... His whole perception changes ....
now he knows it's also a toy.

Fast forward - he learns a stick can be used as a tool.
Add a few more life experiences and he learns a stick is also a weapon.

The more experience you have the more your perception of the stick evolves.

I believe the path of learning sales, is exactly the same.

Every step of the "learning sales" journey is filled with mini epiphanies...
No epiphanies = no growth.

Edit:
I just reread what I wrote - wow - it sounds pretentious!
O well, I am leaving it.

I think the killer attitude is the perfect description of what I'm talking about except on a micro-scale. How you turn up to one meeting is usually how you turn up to every meeting.